Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a surgical apparatus. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapler including firing assemblies configured to control tissue gap distance between jaw members of the stapler when the jaw members are in a clamping configuration and the surgical stapler is fired.
Description of Related Art
Surgical staplers configured to clamp and staple tissue are known. Such staplers may include a tool assembly that is supported at a distal end of a shaft of the stapler. The tool assembly may, for example, include an anvil and a cartridge including a plurality of fasteners that are configured to staple tissue (e.g., occlusion of vascular structure during a transplant procedure).
To staple tissue with such staplers, tissue can be positioned between the cartridge and anvil, and the anvil can be approximated towards the cartridge to clamp the tissue. Once tissue is clamped, the stapler can be fired to advance the drive assembly of the stapler distally through the cartridge to eject the plurality of surgical fasteners sequentially from the cartridge to staple tissue.
In addition to the mechanisms recited to fire the plurality of fasteners, conventional staplers may further include a structure configured to control tissue gap distance between the anvil and the cartridge of the tool assembly during firing of the stapler.
While the aforementioned staplers may be satisfactory for the above uses, there may exist a need for a simpler design for firing surgical fasteners and/or approximating a cartridge towards an anvil. There is also a need for a firing assembly that takes up less space, as well as a need for an alternative approximation assembly and/or method.